1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of display systems fitted in helicopter cockpits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cockpit display systems for helicopters are constituted by display screens disposed in front of the crew. There can therefore be from two to six screens per cockpit depending on the size of the helicopter and its use. The set of screens occupies the whole of the available width of the instrument panel. These so-called “Glass Cockpit” configurations are close to those used in the cockpits of civil aircraft. They make it possible to fly using instruments with a large display area, instrument flight being known by the acronym “IFR”, standing for “Instrument Flight Rules”.
However, in a helicopter, in good meteorological conditions, the pilot prefers visual flight known by the acronym “VFR”, standing for “Visual Flight Rules”. The pilot therefore wishes to have the largest possible vision of the external landscape. It is very clear that current installations mask all of the lower part of the external landscape without it being possible to overcome this very easily.
In order to improve the vision of the exterior, it is possible to produce vision spaces on the lateral sides of the instrument panel. However, this solution is not ideal insofar as, in order to have visual access to these spaces, the pilot must change his normal piloting position.
Another solution consists in installing cameras on the carrier and in displaying the captured images on display screens, thus reconstituting a synthetic image of the external landscape. However, the major disadvantage of this solution is the parallax that exists between the displayed image and the real image, which can be enormous and deceive the pilot in his appreciation of distance and of the position of external objects.